Combating Piracy - Modern Piracy, Part 5
Once pirates board, though, whether the crew continues to resist must be decided on a case-by-case basis. Often times, resistance will escalate the violence, yet injury or death does occur when the crew doesn't resist. After the attack, it should be reported to law enforcement agencies, the shipowner, and the IMB Piracy Reporting Centre. Established in 1992 and located in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, the Piracy Reporting Centre is manned round-the-clock and publishes piracy warnings around the world. They collate information on attacks, alert authorities, locate missing vessels, assist victims of piracy, and help bring pirates to justice. In two recent cases-the Global Mars and the Alondra Rainbow (viewable in Explorer only)-they have been instrumental in the fight against piracy.
What are governments and commercial enterprises doing to curtail piracy? One recent innovation available to shipowners is SHIPLOC, a satellite tracking system. Tiny transmitters are concealed aboard vessels so owners can monitor their ships' exact locations via the Internet. ASAM also allows ships to report details of pirate attacks via satellite connections. There is also a new lifevest on the market. The Lorica Armoured Lifevest is not only buoyant, but also protects against knife and bullet attacks. Brazil has established special anti-piracy squads. Shipping companies in the Philippines conduct training exercises and the Navy recently purchased 30 new patrol craft to aid in the fight against piracy. The U.S. Merchant Marine Academy trains their midshipmen to thwart piracy using high-tech simulation.
Perhaps governments should look to the past when searching for ways to suppress piracy. "Historically, piracy was suppressed by attacking the land bases of pirates. Once the leaders of pirate communities realised that acts of piracy would be met with cannons, they quickly diverted their energies into other moneymaking channels." (Captain Jayant Abhyankar, Deputy Director of ICC International Maritime Bureau, An Overview of Piracy Problems, 1999) Even today, pirates require some base from which to operate. The land is where they hide and live when not at sea, and it is also where those who fence pirate plunder reside. In days of yore, Port Royal and Madagascar were two such havens. The problem is that pirates "know that their land bases are secure from attack. In some cases it has even been thought that pirates have enjoyed the protection of powerful individuals who have clandestine official support from regional governments."
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